Alpha-methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography in epilepsy with cortical developmental malformations

Preliminary studies suggest that alpha[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography can detect the epileptic focus within malformations of cortical development. We determined the sensitivity and specificity of alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography in identifying epileptic focus in children with intractable, neocortical epilepsy with and without malformations of cortical development. Seventy-three epileptic children were classified into lesional and nonlesional groups, and compared regarding focal increased alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan uptake. The sensitivity and specificity of focal increased alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan uptake, using intracranial electroencephalogram localization of seizure onset as the standard, were compared between lesional and nonlesional groups. The specificity of alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography for detecting seizure onset lobe was equally high in lesional (97%) and nonlesional groups (100%), whereas sensitivity was higher in the lesional than the nonlesional group (47% versus 29%; P = 0.047). The incidence of alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan uptake abnormality was higher in the lesional than the nonlesional group (P < 0.01). Alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography localized and visualized epileptogenic regions in 25% of patients with nonlocalizing magnetic resonance imaging. Although overall sensitivity of alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan positron emission tomography in identifying neocortical epileptic focus is modest, specificity is extremely high. When an alpha-[(11)C]methyl-l-tryptophan focus is detected, it likely represents the epileptogenic region to be resected.